Keith, I was on a link I found here yesterday, and a guy was making a video comparing several Leicas and the Sony; it looked very interesting, and so does the comparison you just posted.

I might be tempted to sell everything (if I can find a buyer locally) and do something like that. Or keep everything and just buy additionally. It might be the bee's knees. I have not lost my love for photography - I don't think I ever could, even if I wanted to; it's just that I can't bear inconveniences as I get older. That's one of the reasons I doubt I'll fly again: I rather drive and be where I want to be and not in a cow pen, pushed and prodded and treated like an unwelcome guest with the added insult of paying for the privilege.

Adding to the derailment: I just had a foray since December with the Fuji X-E 1 which is also a highly capable and acclaimed mirrorless (but at a fraction of the price of the Sony). It is a great APS-C camera, but good as it is it ain't no full frame 35mm.

One of the biggest let downs was the focussing. Great when it locked in at the right point but you could have a cuppa waiting for it to hunt about — especially with the 60mm.

Thanks, Rob. Looks as if Leica's making a serious effort to catch up. I wish them all success. On the other hand I wouldn't want to jump in until I see that others have survived the jump. I can't help remembering how close I came to the mistake of buying an M8.

I can't help thinking the Leica M is as usual a great rangefinder but with a few outdated and poorly implemented features tacked on. Not at all what I was looking for. A great pity, I had high hopes.

BTW, have you seen the price of used R lenses lately, they've gone through the roof. Folk buying them to use on the Nikon D800 cameras.

I wrote to Leica some years ago asking them why they didn't make their lenses also available with Nikon mount, suggesting they would widen their sales by quite a margin. I received a reply ignoring the direct question, and informing me that they made the R8, a delightful camera in its own right. All I saw in the R8 was a version of the ancient Exakta wedge body shape! Of course, perhaps Nikon wouldn't have allowed them to use the mount...

I wrote to Leica some years ago asking them why they didn't make their lenses also available with Nikon mount, suggesting they would widen their sales by quite a margin. I received a reply ignoring the direct question, and informing me that they made the R8, a delightful camera in its own right. All I saw in the R8 was a version of the ancient Exakta wedge body shape! Of course, perhaps Nikon wouldn't have allowed them to use the mount...

I suppose that Leica dumped their slr lens system because they didn't make cameras like that themselves, and tooling up to do it, digitally at that, would be too much. But then they do do it in MF, so maybe that argument doesn't really stand.

I guess that losing direct lens coupling must render the use of Leitz glass in other bodies a bit pointless - I hadn't realised that there wasn't a conversion system that let you use auto stopping down etc. Too clumsy by far.